KuCoin, a cryptocurrency exchange, stated that it is discontinuing its Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) mining pools until further notice.
In a blog post published on Wednesday, KuCoin announced that the new policy will go into effect on August 15.
The exchange advised mining pool users to move their miners to alternate platforms before the deadline in order to maintain its evolving business plan.
In order to put this into perspective, the Litecoin network has a hash rate of 792.16 TH/s compared to the Bitcoin network’s overall 349.19 EH/s.
However, KuCoin observed that all other products continue to function normally.
KuCoin Rejects Rumors of Mass Layoffs
This news comes after reports that KuCoin was planning to remove a lot of employees.
Independent journalist Wu Blockchain alleged in an article on July 25 that KuCoin would soon fire 30% of its staff because the country’s strict Know Your Customer laws had reduced the exchange’s profitability.
CEO Johnny Lyu, however, assured the public that business operations are going well and rejected any plans for layoffs.
He claimed that KuCoin has been expanding rapidly, with high user counts and a large number of new listings. More than 20 million accounts are currently registered on the exchange.
“The crypto world changes fast. To stay on top, we regularly evaluate our org structure based on employee performance and company development. So it is not layoffs, and it is all about making the organization more dynamic and competitive.”
For the purpose of ensuring that the transition is smooth, KuCoin has given its mining customers until August 27 to back up and preserve their mining data and other relevant information.
KuCoin Pool will not be held responsible for any potential earnings shortfalls, the company warned. “Please be informed that failure to migrate to alternative mining pools within the aforementioned timeline may affect your mining revenue.”
There are currently 9.08 exahashes per second (EH/s) and 3.90 terrahashes per second (TH/s) for KuCoin’s Bitcoin and Litecoin mining pools, respectively.
3/ The crypto world changes fast. To stay on top, we regularly evaluate our org structure based on employee performance and company development. So it is not layoffs, and it is all about making the organization more dynamic and competitive.
— Johnny_KuCoin (@lyu_johnny) July 25, 2023
It is important to note that KuCoin recently enforced mandatory know-your-customer (KYC) processes for all users.
Existing customers had until July 15 to complete the KYC procedure in order to continue making deposits.
The company claims that the move is meant to strengthen its security system as well as to improve platform user experiences.
“KuCoin has strengthened its Know Your Customer (KYC) system to comply with global regulatory requirements and to protect the assets of all cryptocurrency users through enhanced KYC rules,” KuCoin CEO Lyu stated in June.